CFSP in the News

This article explores planned large-scale infrastructure -- including high speed rail -- and stimulus spending in Thailand. Opponents of the program have called for fiscal prudence and have questioned the amount of public debt it would require. CFSP Faculty Director and MIT Professor Robert M. Townsend points out, however, that average debt-to-asset ratios are low and have been decreasing since 2006, a fact which suggests that concerns about spending are overstated.

Recent CFSP in the News

CFSP Faculty Director Robert M. Townsend of MIT and fellow economist Joseph Kaboski of University of Notre Dame were featured in Notre Dame News for their research on microfinance programs in Thailand. Using data from the Townsend Thai Project, the article notes, Townsend and Kaboski found that microfinance programs yield mixed results for participants. Townsend and Kaboski’s paper highlighting their findings was published in Econometrica.

CFSP Faculty Director Robert M. Townsend was cited in a New York Times article about the changing nature of agricultural production in Thailand and young people's attitudes towards rice cultivation. The article also cited Townsend's research in Thailand with the Townsend Thai Project.

CFSP member Abhijit Banerjee and fellow development economist Angus Deaton debated the use of Randomized Control Trials (RCTs) in development economics at the NYU Development Research Institute's Debates in Development conference. Banerjee argued in favor of RCTs as an effective means to test hypotheses, while Deaton criticized RCTs, suggesting the research method does not receive the same level of scrutiny as other forms of evaluation.

CFSP member Juliano Assunção was featured in Microcapital.org for his research on banking correspondents in Brazil. Assunção’s working paper, which analyzes how banking correspondents have affected barriers to entry for the provision of banking services, was highlighted by the publication.

CFSP Faculty Director Robert Townsend was elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), along with three other MIT professors. NAS memberships recognize distinguished and continuing achievements in original research, and are considered one of the highest honors afforded to scientists and engineers.

CFSP Faculty Director Robert M. Townsend was interviewed by TSEconomist, the student magazine of the the Toulouse School of Economics, about his academic career, his ongoing research and about receiving the Jean-Jacques Laffont Prize in economics. In the interview, Townsend discusses the Townsend Thai Project, financial systems in developing countries and the European debt crisis.

The Guardian's Decca Aitkenhead spoke with CFSP member Abhijit Banerjee about his book Poor Economics and the effective allocation of foreign aid. Banerjee, who co-wrote Poor Economics with Esther Duflo, discussed the nature of the obstacles that the world's poor face in escaping poverty.

Nikhila Gill and Vivek Dehejia of The New York Times cited CFSP member Abhijit Banerjee in their discussion of India’s poverty line, which has been challenged by critics. Banerjee addressed questions of how to measure poverty and consumption by the poor.

CFSP member Tavneet Suri was featured in Okuttah Mark's article about the Central Bank of Kenya's plans to audit and monitor the nation's mobile banking system as it moves to implement the National Payment Systems (NPS) Act. In the article, Suri discusses Kenya's mobile banking system, which is also explored in her working paper Mobile Money: the Economics of M-Pesa.